//------------------------------// // Chapter 13:The Beast Within // Story: Hearthfire The Sands Of Time // by Predman1227 //------------------------------// Chapter 13:The Beast Within Theran Razorblade “I fucked up.” Theran whispered to himself. “Another failure in a long line of fuck ups.” He stared at the floor of his cage, his spirit wavering. He had found where his gear was ages ago, the goon that had lit the torch was sitting on a stool beside a wooden table and that’s where his stuff lay. The black leather armoured pony wasn’t really watching him, all he was doing was sharpening a dagger and now and then glancing at Theran’s cage. Theran had spent about an hour searching for any weaknesses in his prison but the thing was firm as a rock. He couldn’t use magic to get out do to the horn lock and he couldn’t take it off. So now he just sat there, his hope fading. He thought about Haze, thought about how scared she must be if they had her and he thought about what they were going to do with her. And then there was Violet, Big B hadn’t even mentioned her at all. “Why did I save that brat?” Theran thought to himself. “Why didn’t I just walk away?” He knew the answer to that but it was an answer he got time and time again, an answer that showed up every time he got into places like this. His mind drifted back to all the times he had gotten attached and how all those attachments had ended badly. They chewed at his mind like a swarm of hungry rats, whispering names into his ears and showing faces of the ones he failed to save. He could still picture the blood of last ponies he had called his friends, on his hooves. A group of travellers, three stallions, two mares and a filly had for some reason asked him to travel with them and they seemed nice so he had taken their offer. For five mouths they travelled and Theran had gotten to know them all. The filly’s name was Little Hoof and he had quit the little spirit. Then there was his Mother her name was Snow Flower and she was good at telling stories. Then there was the three brothers, Nip, Tip and Flip they were a bunch of hotheads. Then last there was Silma, she kinda had a crush on him but he took it as her just being friendly. It only took Theran a day to realise they wanted him so he could protect them on the roads and that’s what he did…until… “Hay Psymon?” A voice broke Theran from his dark thoughts and he looked up to see another pony in the same black gear come through the opening to the tunnel. He gestured to the one sitting at Theran’s gear. “What is it!?” The one called Psymon asked in angry tone. “Can you give me a hoof with something?” The other pony asked back. “Why can’t you do it? Can’t you see I’m already doing something?” Psymon argued. “Sitting on your flank isn’t doing something and besides that thing isn’t goin anywhere.” Theran didn’t like being called a thing. With a huff Psymon got up and went out with his friend, leaving Theran alone in his cage. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. There were many ways he could get out of this, escape and be free but what was the point. Everyone he ever cared about soon die of old age or got killed before their time. Haze and Violet were no different, they would soon die one way or the other and he would be alone again with his sanity slowly dwindling away. Right now his sanity wavered. “Maybe giving up isn’t so bad.” Theran said to himself, his mind slowly clearing. “I mean I’ve done it before…why not now?” Theran thought of Haze’s face. Her big green eyes, her cute smile he had to admit and that passion she had for making others happy. In a way she reminded him of Trisha and in a way that hurt. Then there was Violet. She had been through a lot for a pony her age but even with that she still had the will to live, a fire of life that once burned in him. He admired that, the will to push on even though things had gone to shit. He had come to realise that he gave them one thing no one else could, hope. The thought of them dying without hope, hope he had given them made him angry. Too many times had he given hope to others only to have that hope get snuffed out. For some reason he thought of his Mother, the way she would look at him in disgust, call him a cowered and say he is not worthy of the name Razorblade. “Well fuck you Mother.” He said to his long dead Mum. He had made his mind up, he wasn’t going to stay in this cage and let good ponies die again. Not if it meant losing what stability he had left. He got up but the cage was too small. He lay back down again and growled in anger. “Oh come on.” He growled. He got up again and pressed his back to the roof of the cage and pushed. Try as he might the roof wouldn’t move and he lay down once more. “Damit, thing is solid.” If he had more time he could wear out the joints but time wasn’t on his side. He noticed the bars weren’t in even rows. The middle two bars were very close together and the bar at the corners were not. He suddenly had an idea but it was one he wasn’t going to like. He felt his horn and looked at the middle bars. “This is going to suck so much.” He shuffled over to the bars and placed his horn in between them. He glanced to either side and found he had enough room. He grit his teeth and took in a few deep breaths, getting ready. He closed his eye, took in one more breath and held it. Then he jerked his head as hard as he could to one side and his horn with the lock snapped off. Theran screamed with his mouth clamped shut and he gripped the horn stump with his hooves. He thumped his nose madly off the cage floor as waves of unbearable pain shot through his skull. He growled with each exhale as the pain slowly lessened to the point he could open his eyes again. He took one hoof away and looked at it. It was stained with blood, his blood. He looked past his hoof and saw his horn laying in reach outside the cage. He grabbed it and sat up in the cage still holding the stump. He looked at his severed horn and wondered if he had properly screwed himself. His curse granted him the ability to heal and recover faster than any normal pony. There had been times he had lost a few insides and they always grow back but he wondered if it also worked for outside stuff as well. “Guess only time will tell.” Theran thought. The bar near the lock was wide enough for him to fit his foreleg through and with the tip of his horn he started fiddling with it. He pressed his ear to it and listened for the sound of the lock clicking open. “Come on you damn thing open.” He growled. He spent about two minutes picking the lock till he heard a tiny click, and the cage door opened. “Finally.” Theran half growled, half sighed. He was about to push it open when the sound of hooves coming his way stopped him. He positioned himself sideways to the cage door and hid his broken horn. The one called Psymon walked back in and he had removed his mask but still had his hood up. He was grumbling something to himself as he walked up to his stool and sat on it once more. He then leaned on the table with Theran’s gear on it and rubbed his face with his hoof. “Having a bad day?” Theran asked Psymon in a sarcastic way. Psymon looked up at Theran and glared at him. “Shut it ya pointy eared freak!” He spat. Theran grind and asked. “Or you’ll what?” Psymon looked a little surprised at Theran’s retort. “I’ll stick you with this.” He picked Theran’s own sword and seemed to have a little trouble lifting it. Theran laughed. “Good luck with that. You know what I find funny? The very filly you ass-holes are after can hold that sword better than you can.” Psymon glared at him again. “I can hold it just find.” He stuck the hilt in his mouth and said in a muffled voice. “See.” Then tilted to the side the blade was facing and it hit the stone floor with a loud ding. Theran snickered and then a slight pain pulsed in his head. He ignored it though. “Sure you’re the master of sword play.” “Oy watch your tong or I’ll cut it out.” Psymon threatened when he took the sword out of his mouth and pointed the tip at Theran. Theran narrowed is eyes and showed his teeth. “Why not come and try it ya wee shit.” He stated. Psymon was about to come charging up to the cage where Theran could spring out and kill him, when the same masked and hooded goon from before came in. “What are you doing!?” He yelled. Psymon turned around. “What is it this time!? I just helped you with…” The goon cut him off. “Oh shut up and come with me already, I still got one more thing I need a hoof with.” Psymon rolled his eyes and was about to put Theran’s sword down when the goon said. “Um bring that with you, we might need its sharpness.” Psymon gave him a confused look but then just shrugged and left with Theran’s sword. Theran rolled his eyes pushing the cage door open and stepping out into the open space. He looked at his severed horn for a moment then threw it away into some random corner. He moved up to his gear and quickly got to putting it all back on. The last thing he put on was his helmet and noted it felt a little strange not having his horn slide into the open slot at the top. He then checked his hoof blades and found they still worked fine. The goons didn’t take his sword sheath so he attached it to his belt for when he reclaimed his weapon. He was about to venture out when something caught his eye. He didn’t see it before but there was a bow and quiver under the table. He bent under the table and picked them up, then testing the firing string’s tightness. It was in good condition and would prove useful. “Not my first chose but I guess beggars canny be choosers.” He mumbled to himself, slinging the bow on his back and attaching the quiver to his belt. The last thing Theran did before leaving for good was putting out the torch on the wall and let his night-sight kick in, turning everything a dull blue. Once adjusted to the low light he crept out of the room and looked down the tunnel. No one was around so he continued down, keeping his noise level as low as possible, which was hard since he was covered in head to hoof in armour plating. When he got to the end of the tunnel it split off into two more tunnels. He slowly looked both ways then stuck his nose up in the air and sniffed. When in doubt always follow your nose and his nose was telling him to turn right. There were many different scents coming from that way and some of them were pony and others were not. Theran made a low growl in his throat, stood on his hind legs, drew the bow and attached an arrow. He then moved two legged down the new tunnel staying close to the wall. It had occurred to him that this cave wasn’t a cave at all. The walls looked pony made, as he walked down the tunnel he saw some support beams placed between the floor and the roof and there were little cut outs in the walls. “Must have been some old mine or something?” Theran thought. Suddenly a male Unicorn in the same black gear, hovering a torch came around the bend at the end of the tunnel and was coming his way. “Shit.” Theran whispered in alarm. He couldn’t run back the way he had come because the Unicorn would hear him and he couldn’t go invisible because his horn was broken. He pulled back the firing string on the bow and aimed it at the patrolling guard. It had been a long time since he had used a bow and he wasn’t sure if he could kill him in one shot. The guard was getting closer. Theran glanced all around and thought he could hide in one of the cuts in the wall but when he tried his armour stopped him. The guard was very close now the edge of his torch was almost upon him. Theran was shaking his head left and right in frustration. “But…wa…I…” He sighed. “Oh fuck it.” He dropped the bow, extended his hoof blades and lunged forward. All his hooves had completely left the ground as he flew out of the darkness and only got a second to see the stunned look in the Unicorn’s eyes before he slammed into him. They both hit the ground while the torch went flying up in the air and landed about a meter away. Theran lifted his head to see both of his blades had gone in the Unicorn’s throat and now he was choking on his own blood. He pulled out one of his blades only so he could shove it under the Unicorn’s chin, pricing his skull and destroying his brain. The Unicorn stopped breathing and went limp. Theran sighed. “Well…that went better than I thought in would.” He got up and shook as much blood off his blade as could. He retracted them, then went over to the bow and picked up again. He put away the arrow and slung the bow on his back once more, he figured it still might be useful. He checked the body for anything and only found a dagger. “Oh you sods love these things don’t you?” Theran asked the dead Unicorn. Theran huffed and slid the dagger in a slot in his armour, stomped out the torch and went on his way again. As he came to the bend at the end of the tunnel he noticed there was some faint light and when he peek around he saw the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber. There were a few torches but they did little to light up the place. Theran didn’t need them to see what was in the chamber and what he saw was traps of all kinds, hunting equipment and lots of cages. No one seemed to be around so Theran crept around the bend and quickly slid into the dark again. Now that he was hidden he check the cages to find out what may be in them. All of them seemed empty till he came to a large one with some kind big, white creature inside it. It was chained up like hell, and when it looked at him its long snout was tied shut. At first Theran thought it was some kind of small Dragon from its slim lizard like appearance and large wings. But on further inspection he noticed it had hooves on its back legs and claws on its front legs. It also had a long, flowing purple mane and at the top of its forehead it had four horns, one of which was a Unicorn horn. He guessed it was a girl from the shape of her hips and the genral feminine nature of her face. He could tell she could see just fine in the dark since she was glaring right at him with her fiery, glowing yellow reptilian eyes. Theran wondered if he should try talking to her when he heard the sound of coughing two cages down. He tilted his head to the side to try and get a better looked and saw a pony lying on its side in a cage. He ignored the Dragon pony for now and went to investigate the coughing pony. When he crept up to the cage he saw who it was. “Doc?” The old pony weakly lifted his head up and looked around and didn’t seem to see him. “Who’s there…you bastards back to beat on an old stallion again?” He yelled. Theran went right up to the cage and hushed him. “Quiet they’ll fucking hear you Doc.” Theran looked around to make sure no guards were nearby. The doctor seemed to begin to notice him. “Who are you and why are your eyes glowing blue and…why do you smell like a dog?” Theran pressed his helmeted head up to the bars and whispered. “It’s me Doc, it’s Theran.” “Theran…” He started coughing and made a few choking sounds. “Thank Terrato, I thought you were one of them.” Theran took a good look at him and what he saw wasn’t pretty. His left eye was completely swollen shut, his nose was bleeding and the floor of the cage had a small puddle of blood. “What happened? Why did they pony nap you?” The Doctor sat up as best he could till he gave in and leaned on the bars. He coughed. “My…guess is they…were after you. A while after you and your friends left, they came in and…beat me up pretty good.” He spat some blood out in his mouth and weakly breathed. “After they had their fun beating me…Tim…he walked right in and they were on him in seconds. Boy didn’t stand a chance.” Theran frowned in concern. “They didny kill him did they?” He asked. The Doctor weakly shook his head, seeming out of breath. “No but they beat him up pretty bad.” The Doctor coughed and blood sprayed out his mouth and some of it went over Theran’s helmet so he shut his eyes on reflex. The doctor grunted and weakly looked at him. “I’m not going to lie so I’m just going to say it…” He coughed up more blood. “I’m dying…have been for a while.” Theran shook his head. “I’m sure if we get you back to your place we…” The doctor cut him off. “No…I mean I’ve been dying for years now.” He wiped blood off his lips. “I’ve got Lung Rot…do…do you know what that is?” Theran nodded slowly. “Yes. It’s a diesis that slowly, over years eats away at your lungs and in the end you die choking on your own blood. From what I hear…it’s a painful way to go.” The doctor looked Theran in the eye and Theran could see the want behind them. “Then you’ll understand that I don’t want to die that way. I want you to kill me and make it quick.” Theran shook his head again. “No Doc I’m not going to kill you.” The Doctor looked on in anger. “Don’t you get it? I’m finished. Those thugs sped up…the process when they beat me. I’m not leaving this cave alive so just do it.” Theran reached through the bars, grabbed the Doctor’s bloody grey shirt and pulled him closer to the bars till he couldn’t move. “That’s it you’re just going to give up, what about Tim?” The Doctor just seemed more pissed off now but he couldn’t shove Theran away, he didn’t have the energy. “Don’t talk to me about giving up, when things don’t go your way you legionnaires give up easily. I bet you’ve ran from many battles, leaving your troops like a cowered.” He snorted. “I also bet that’s why you ran from the legion cause you dishonoured them and left them to die and…” Theran punched him through the bars but the force behind it was weak, though it served to shut him up. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work.” Theran narrowed his eyes as he kept his tone calm. “Since you’re not long for this world Doc I’ll admit, I am a monster, I’ve done terrible things many of which I regret.” His voice cracked a little. “But a cowered is not one of them and I’m not going to let you give up so easy.” Theran moved away from the bars and went back over to the Dragon like thing again and looked at her restraints. Her hands and hooves were linked to very small chains, restricting her movement and stopping her from lifting them. She also had a heavy clamp around her neck and very strong leather straps around her jaw. Her Unicorn horn was also locked by the same magic sapping device Theran had had. She narrowed her eyes at him when he extended one of his hoof blades and then widened them when he started picking the lock on her cage door. Theran could feel his heart kick up a gear when he finally unlocked and opened the cage. Even though death was impossible for him, Theran preferred it happened as little as possible. He could hear her starting to breath heavily as if she was feeling the same thing. “Ok…I’m going to help you out, so dinny eat me or anything.” He slowly bent down and started fiddling with the lock on her left hand. He gulped a bit when he glanced at her claws. They looked sharp enough to cut through hide like butter and he bet her teeth were the same. The clamp clicked open and fell off her wrist with a metal clunk. She flexed and spun her wrist joint, the bones cracked from stiffness. Theran then did her other hand and soon both her hands were free but the moment they were she grabbed his throat and squeezed. Her grip was super strong and Theran’s eyes widened when he could barely breathe. He tried to speak. “Gah…sa…same…side…gah!” He could see the rage in her yellow eyes and for a moment he thought she was going to actually rip his throat out, costing him time. But after a moment she let him go and gripped the heavy clamp around her neck. With her monster like strength she pulled the clamp apart with a grinding screech and then quickly did the same to the ones on her hind legs. Theran was on the floor gaging and coughing when she came out of the cage. She reared up and spread out her massive Dragon wings as she also stretched her long neck. Her deep breathing sound like sighs of relief as she slowly rotated her head. Theran guessed she must have been in that cage for a long time. After a moment of stretching she finally cut off the leather straps around her jaw with her claws and opened and shut it a few times. She pulling the horn lock but it was stuck there. Theran now had a better look at her features and noticed, for a Dragon like thing she had a lot of fur. Only her belly, chest, lower forearms and long tail that ended in the shape of a spearhead had no fur. She was quite beautiful in a terrifying sort of way and when she stood on all fours she was at least the height of an average Wolven male. Theran was about to talk to her when he heard voices. He looked past her and noticed a ramp that led up to a tunnel entrance and he also noticed an orange glow from in the tunnel slowly getting brighter. “The sound came from in there.” Some near by guards must of heard the clamps breaking and were now coming to investigate. Before Theran could move the Dragon thing jumped upward and vanished into the darkness of the high roof. “Oh that’s not fair.” Theran grumbled. He looked around and found nowhere to hide. He thought about going back the way he came but it was already too late. Four black leather armoured ponies came charging in and one of them was a Unicorn with the torch. The others were two Earth ponies with some kind of sparking sticks in their mouths and the last was a Pegasus with a crossbow. Almost immediately the moment the glow from the torch touched Theran he was spotted. They made an “X” shape around him and he got a sense of dajza,voo. The Unicorn was in front, while the two Earth ponies were at the sides and the Pegasus hovered behind him with her crossbow. “What do we have here?” The Unicorn asked to his friends. He hovered the torch beside himself and had another one of those sparking sticks clipped to his belt. “Looks like our product is trying to escape.” “He’s got blood on him.” The Pegasus pointed out, “He’s killed one of our guys let’s drop him right now.” Theran didn’t like the Pegasus and he could already tell she was the loud mouth of this group. The Unicorn was keeping his cool. “Is that true?” He asked Theran. Theran shrugged. “I could tell you the boring details of how one of your friends choked on his own blood but then we would be here a long time. Speaking of which what time is it?” The Unicorn huffed in surprise. “Why dose that matter to you?” He asked. Theran extended both of his hoof blades and took up a fighting stance. His tone was low and even. “Cause this is the last hour of your miserable lives.” Just as they all begun to laugh the Unicorn looked at the empty cage and because he wasn’t wearing a mask, Theran saw the entire colour drain out of his red face. “The Keran its…” A strong wind blow down from the roof and put out all the torches, covering everything in darkness. Theran stayed where he was, hidden in the blackness but the torches had mucked up his night sight and he couldn’t see. To make things worse, the sparking sticks the Earth ponies were using let off bright spacing flashes, which was really screwing with his vision. He was only catching glimpses of their panicked expressions till the Unicorn cast a spell and a small ball of white light appeared beside him. The light was pathetic at best but at least but at least it stopped him from getting a headache. “Shit, shit, shit guys we got a…” Something large and white landed right behind him with a heavy crunch. Only her chest and lower limbs were visible in the darkness. Slowly and shakily the Unicorn turned his head to face her and finally whispered in fear. “Problem.” Nothing happened for a moment, just tense silence. Then her eyes opened and shown forth in a blood red glow. After that things got really, chaotic. One moment the Unicorn was just staring up at her, the next she had cleaved his head clean off his shoulders with her massive claws. Upon his gruesome death the light went out again and the only light source left was coming from the sparking sticks. With each flash Theran only caught split second images of the carnage playing out in front of him. It was like watching one of those slide shows those far away travellers brought to the Barrier Lands but in this each scene was an utter gore fest. There were screams of pain and terror as she disembowelled the two Earth ponies without mercy. The sounds of flesh ripping and bone breaking violated Theran ears as something wet and fleshy hit off his armour and he didn’t want to think about what inside it might be. The sparking sticks had stopped flashing and now it was completely black but he could still hear panicked breathing coming from behind him. Suddenly a new light appeared in the form of a flare and Theran turned around to see it was the Pegasus. She had no hood or mask so he got to see the full extent of the terror playing across her face. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open and her entire body was trembling. She sounded like she was hyperventilating when she started pleading. “Please…don’t let it kill me…I’ll do anything…p, p, please. Please…” She still had her crossbow but it was shaking in her grasp. Theran could hear heavy steps behind him and when he glanced to one side he saw her. Her chest, arms and head were socked in dripping blood, black red tipped spines were sticking out of the back of her neck and her eyes were burning red almost blending with the blood. Theran didn’t say a word as he let her lumber past him and approach the shacking Pegasus. She dropped her crossbow and flare, trying to back up but her legs and wings were stock-still. She tried begging one last time. “Please…I didn’t…they made me do…” She gasped loudly as long sharp claws stabbed through her stomach and she stiffened up in shock. Slowly she was lifted off the ground to gaze one last time into the blood lust eyes of a living nightmare. Then she was pulled apart. Guts, intestines and a river of blood littered the rocky ground. She dropped both halves of the Pegasus’s mangled body and then sat down panting. Theran just watched her. Watched as the spines on her neck slowly sank back under her long purple blood stained mane. Watched her claws retraced back to normal size and watched her red eyes turn back to yellow. Theran recognised this form, it was one of the most feared forms among Dragon kind. The form of pure rage, the form of a Wrath Dragon and this Dragon pony hybrid thing was a Wrath Dragon. Theran was by her side though, unsure of what he should say. While he pondered this, the Dragon hybrid was looking at her hands. They were completely soaked in blood with bits of flesh still sticking to her claws. Then after a moment she stuck her tong out and started…cleaning herself. It was rather disgusting to watch but Theran didn’t dare try to stop her or even comment. He just coughed till she lazily looked at him. “Um…hi.” He felt so awkward. Her face was plain of expression as she just looked at him. Theran coughed again and asked awkwardly. “So…do you talk? Do you have…a name even?” There was a long pause almost too long, till she finally said in a low female voice. “Yes.” Theran slowly nodded, not sure if he had made a break through. “Ok…you can talk. Do you have a name?” “Yes.” She said again. Theran shifted his gaze from side to side. “Care to share it?” He asked. “No.” Was her answer. Theran was just confused but he shook it off. “Ok…but could you do me a favour?” “I don’t do favours.” She said, still licking off the blood on her hands. Theran felt a ping of annoyance. This was so awkward. “But I…” he sighed, “Look can you at least open his cage?” He pointed at the Doctor’s cage, who at the moment didn’t seem to have a clue of what had happened or what was happening now. She stopped licking herself and stood up with a look that Theran could only guess was sarcasm. “If you insist.” She walked over to the Doctor’s cage, gripped the door with one hand and with a quick pull she ripped it off. The metal joints screeched, as they were pulled apart. “Thanks.” Theran said. He went over and helped the struggling Doctor out of the cage. “Now we can find Tim and get the hell out of here.” “You do that.” The hybrid said and started walking toward the wrong tunnel. “Uh the surface is that way.” Theran stated as he pointed up the ramp the goons had come down. The hybrid stopped and turned her head to him. “What makes you so sure?” Theran was really starting to get annoyed now but he kept his cool. “We’re under ground, up means out. Also I can smell it, where there’s a smell there’s a draft and where there’s a draft there’s an exit. You getting all this so far?” She actually looked impressed. “How very astute of you. Yes you are right but I have something…to attend to first.” Before he could even ask what she meant she darted off like a snake and vanished into the tunnel. “Well fuck me in a hoof basket.” Theran swore to himself, at this point he really had had just about enough. “I have to do everything. For once can somepony or someone do something for me? Mother fu…” Something tugged at his belt and cut him off. “Theran?” The doctor’s weak voice called out to him and he looked down. The Doctor was on his side out of the cage now, wheezing and coughing up blood. Theran tried to help him up. “Come on Doc I said I’m not going to let you give up.” Try as he might the Doctor would not stand and his efforts only resulted in him coughing up more blood and fluid. “That’s…not your choice to make.” He rolled onto his back and sucked in long ragged breaths. Once he had stopped choking he finally said. “It’s not…in your power.” Theran sat down beside him and looked lost as he blankly gazed into the dying Doctor’s eyes. He sat there trying to keep it together. “No…no you canny…no, no, no you can’t,” He looked up at the black roof and whispered. “Please…don’t make me do this.” The Doctor put a hoof on Theran’s left forearm and made him look at him. He weakly smiled up at him. Then he said in a shallow voice. “This…is how it’s supposed to be,” He coughed again. “Even if I could walk…out of this place I’d…I’d only have a day or two, a week even.” He looked Theran in the eye with all his will. “But we both know…I’m not getting out of this alive and I know you know it’s true. Lie to the dying long enough and…you start to notice when somepony else is lying to you. I can see it in your eyes, you’re no stranger to this, watching others die.” Theran took off his helmet and let the Doctor see his face one last time. His expression was stern but the defeat could be seen clearly in his blue wolf eyes. “What about Tim? Doesn’t he need you? From what I’ve gathered you’re his only family.” The Doctor seemed to laugh but it sounded like a gurgle. “He’s got Lilly, I’ve never said it to his face but she is right for him. They will look after each other just fine…they don’t need me…not anymore.” The doctor gripped Theran’s shoulder guard. “ But promise me you will get Tim and…get him back home. Promise me.” The Doctor didn’t even seem to notice Theran had already slid his right hoof blade passed his rib cage and into his heart, and just as he passed away Theran whispered the words, “I can't.” Then the Doctor closed his eyes and breathed, his last breath. The flare the Pegasus had sparked finally fizzled out and once more Theran was alone in the dark.